Method and apparatus for media searching using a graphical user interface

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides for a method and an apparatus that enables a collection of media files to be rapidly searched for segments or sub-segments of media content. A graphical user interface is rendered on a display under control of a processor. The interface includes a file-view window configured to display representative images of the media files. In one mode of operation, the processor displays representative images of segments of a selected media file an expanded-view window in response to a sensed user input on the representative image of the media file. A segment may be further expanded or selected for processing in response to a sensed user input on the representative image of the segment in the expanded-view window. Expansion, contraction and selection of a media file, or segments of the media file, are provided.

BACKGROUND

Portable electronic devices such as tablet computers, smart phones,personal digital assistants (PDA's), portable media players and thelike, often have relatively small displays screens to make them moreportable. This limits the number and size of graphical display elementsthat can be displayed at any one time on the display screen. As aconsequence, user interfaces must be simplified.

Consider, for instance, a user interface for the selection of videos fordisplay from a collection of videos. One approach is to displayrepresentative frames, or “thumbnails,” of available videos and thenselect a video of the available videos in response to a user's touch ona displayed thumbnail. However, this action causes the video to beplayed from the start and does not allow selection of a portion of thevideo, such as a favorite scene. To access a desired scene, a user mustthen interact with a displayed scroll bar or a scrubber bar to searchthrough the video. This approach may be very inefficient for longervideos.

In video editing on a larger screen, a single video may be split inmultiple segments and thumbnails from each segment displayed in one ormore rows, together with scroll bars to enable selection of a segmentfor editing. However, on a small screen, the scroll bars may be toosmall for easy manipulation, or, if enlarged, leave little screen spacefor additional information to be displayed. This problem is exacerbatedwhen the graphical user interface is displayed on a touch-sensitivescreen and is controlled by a touch of a user's fingertip rather than bya computer mouse.

It would be useful to provide a way to easily select a segment of videoor other media from a plurality of media files displayed for selectionon a display screen of an electronic device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described belowwith reference to the included drawings such that like referencenumerals refer to like elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communications system, in accordance withexemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrammatic representations of a device inaccordance with exemplary embodiments of the disclosure;

FIGS. 3-5 are diagrammatic representations of a sequence of views of agraphical user interface, in accordance with exemplary embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIGS. 6-8 are diagrammatic representations of a sequence of views of agraphical user interface, in accordance with exemplary embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation of a file-view window and anexpanded-view window of a graphical user interface, in accordance withexemplary embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a further diagrammatic representation of a file-view windowand an expanded-view window of a graphical user interface, in accordancewith exemplary embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a still further diagrammatic representation of a file-viewwindow and an expanded-view window of a graphical user interface, inaccordance with exemplary embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a method for selecting a segment of a mediafile to be processed, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of thedisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, reference numerals may berepeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogouselements. Numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding ofthe illustrative embodiments described herein. The embodiments may bepracticed without these details. In other instances, well-known methods,procedures, and components have not been described in detail to avoidobscuring the disclosed embodiments. The description is not to beconsidered as limited to the scope of the embodiments shown anddescribed herein.

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for selectinga segment of a media file to be processed on an electronic device. Themethod may be implemented on a portable or handheld electronic devicesuch as a tablet computer, smart phone, personal digital assistant(PDA), portable media player and the like. However, the method may alsobe used on other devices having larger screens, such as desktopcomputers, laptop computers and the like. The method may be implementedin standalone software, such as a media player application or a videoediting application, for instance, or implemented as part of a moregeneral application, such as a browser for viewing pages from the WorldWide Web and accessing remote content via the Internet, for example.

The disclosed method and apparatus enables a collection of media filesto be rapidly searched and for segments (or sub-segments, etc.) withinthe media files to be selected for processing. Any form of subsequentprocessing may be applied, including display, playback, editing,transmission to another location or device, storing in memory, etc.

The media files may be, for example, video files having graphicalcontent in the form of a sequence of image frames. However, the approachmay be used for other media files containing sequences of images orgraphical content, such as computer animations and slide presentations.

The media files contain a digital representation of the content. Therepresentation may be retrieved and interpreted by a processor of anelectronic device. For example, many media representations arecompressed by encoding to reduce file size, and must be decompressedbefore they can be accessed for playback, display or other processing.

In an exemplary embodiment, an electronic device includes a display, aprocessor coupled to the display and a memory coupled to, and incooperative arrangement, with the processor. The processor and memoryare configured to generate a graphical user interface on the display.The graphical user interface has a file-view window configured todisplay representative images of media files. In response to a userinput on a representative image of a media file in the file-view window,representative images of segments of the media file are rendered in anexpanded-view window on the display. In response to a user input on oneof the representative images of segments of the media file in theexpanded-view window, the corresponding segment of the media file isselected for processing. A characteristic of the user input on therepresentative image of the media file may be sensed to differentiatebetween different user inputs. If the user input has a firstcharacteristic, the media file is selected to be displayed in theexpanded-view window, otherwise the complete media file is selected forprocessing.

Thus, a segment of a media file may be selected for processing bydisplaying representative images of media files in a file-view window ofa graphical user interface and determining a characteristic of a userinput on a representative image in the file-view window. If thedetermined characteristic of the user input is associated with anexpansion operation, representative images of a number of segments ofthe media content associated with the representative image in thefile-view window are displayed in an expanded-view window of thegraphical user interface. In response to a user input on arepresentative image of a segment of a media file displayed in theexpanded-view window, a characteristic of the user input is determined.If the determined characteristic of the user input is associated with aselection operation, the media content associated with therepresentative image associated with the user input is selected forprocessing.

The display may be a touch-sensitive display and a segment of a mediafile may be selected for processing by displaying a graphical userinterface having file-view window on the touch-sensitive display anddisplaying representative images of a plurality of media files in thefile-view window. In response to a user touch action associated with anexpansion operation on a representative image of a media file in thefile-view window, representative images of a plurality of segments ofmedia content associated with the touched representative image in thefile-view window are displayed in an expanded-view window of thegraphical user interface. In response to a user touch action associatedwith a selection operation on a representative image of segment of amedia file displayed in the expanded-view window, the segment of mediacontent associated with the touched representative image is selected forprocessing.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device in accordance withexemplary embodiments of the disclosure. The device 100 includes aprocessor 102 operable to retrieve media files from a memory 104. Thememory 104 may be a non-transitory memory used to store the media filesor a transitory memory used to buffer information retrieved from aremote location via a network interface 106 or other connection. Thedevice 100 also includes a display 108. In this illustrative embodiment,the display 108 comprises a touch sensitive display screen that iscoupled to the processor 102 via a display interface 110 and touchsensing logic 112. However, other displays may be used. User input maybe provided by a pointing device such as a computer mouse, a joystick, atouch pad, a stylus or a finger, for example. The coupling between thedevice 100 and processor 102 may be wired or wireless. The device 100also includes an audio interface 114, for playback of audio content and,optionally, for receipt of audio input. Other peripheral devices 116 mayalso be provided, along with standard components such as a clock, apower supply, data ports and the like.

Exemplary embodiments utilizing touch-sensitive displays will bedescribed. However, other types of displays and pointing devices may beused to provide a graphical user interface. Similarly, user input may beprovided by sensing user touch actions on touch-sensitive display, or byreceiving inputs from a pointing device as described above.

FIG. 2A is a diagrammatic representation of a device 100 in accordancewith exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. The device 100 includes acase or housing 202 that supports touch-sensitive display 108, audiointerface 114 and other components described above. The touch-sensitivescreen 108 is operable to display a graphical user interface thatincludes a file-view window 204, configured to display representativeimages of media files, and an expanded-view window 206, configured todisplay representative images of segments of a selected media file.Other user controls may also be displayed on the screen 108. While shownwith the file-view window 204 containing the expanded-view window 206,it will be apparent that other views may be chosen. For example, thewindows could be arranged vertically or the expanded-view window 206could be positioned below the file-view window 204.

In FIG. 2A, the device 100 is orientated in a vertical or portrait mode;however, the device may alternatively be operated in a horizontal orlandscape mode, as shown in FIG. 2B. The graphical user interface mayalso include other elements, such as a processing window 208 shown inFIG. 2B. The processing window may be used, for example, for displayingvideo segments or still images, video editing, or other processingoperations.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a file-view window 204 of agraphical user interface, in accordance with exemplary embodiments ofthe disclosure. Representative images 302, such as thumbnail images, ofa number of media files (denoted as “FILE 1”, “FILE 2”, etc.) aredisplayed in the file-view window 204. In the embodiment shown, ninerepresentative images are displayed but a different number of imagescould be shown. Additional or alternative images may be shown byscrolling the window using a vertical or horizontal swipe or scrollbuttons, for example. In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure,the processor is configured to distinguish between at least two types ofuser touch actions. The user touch actions may be, for example, a singletap, a double tap, a short duration tap, a longer duration tap and hold,a swipe in one or more directions or combinations thereof. User touchactions are assigned to desired operations and are recognized by theprocessor. For example, user touch actions may be assigned to‘selection’, ‘expansion’, and ‘contraction’ operations. Additionally,user touch actions may be interpreted dependent upon a current context,as described below. For example the same action may be interpreted as‘contract’ if a file is already expanded and as ‘expand’ if it is not.In each case, a user touch is sensed and its character is identified asa user touch action. An ‘expand’ user touch action on imagerepresentative of “FILE 5” causes an expanded view window 206 to bedisplayed, as illustrated in FIG. 4. Referring to FIG. 4, an expandedview window contains a number of images 402 representative of segmentsof the selected file. Each of the representative images 402 correspondsto a segment or portion of the media content of “FILE 5”. The segmentsmay be chosen, for example, by splitting the content into a numbersegments of substantially equal length or by identifying logical breaksin the content, such as scene or shot changes in a video file, or volumeor rhythm changes in a music file. For example, a scene change may bedetected as a jump in the size of a compressed video frame. Once thesegments 402 are displayed, a particular segment may be selected forprocessing by the appropriate user touch action. For example, therepresentative image 402 may comprise a thumbnail image of a frame froma video segment, and the selection action may be used to cause the videosegment to be played.

In an illustrative embodiment where user input is provided by a pointingdevice, user input characteristics such ‘single click’ and ‘doubleclick’ may be used, for example, to differentiate between selectionactions and expansion actions.

The segments 402 may be removed from the expanded-view window 206 by afurther user touch action on the “FILE 5” representative image or by auser tap on a representative image 302 other than the “FILE 5” image. Inthis way, the content of the media files may be conveniently and rapidlysearched and selected by a user.

The segments 402 may be further expanded, as shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 isa further diagrammatic representation of a file-view window 204 and anexpanded-view window 206 of a graphical user interface, in accordancewith exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. A segment may be furtherexpanded by tapping the representative image of the segment. In the viewshown in FIG. 5, a user tap (as shown in FIG. 4) has been sensed on therepresentative image of segment 5.3 (the third segment of “FILE 5”). Theprocessor responds by splitting segment 5.3 into a number ofsub-segments 502. As before, the sub-segments may be determined invarious ways without departing from the present disclosure.Representative images 502 of sub-segments of segment 5.3 are displayedin the expanded-view window 206. The images 502 may be displayed belowthe segment images, as shown. A sub-segment 5.3.2, for example, may beselected for processing by an appropriate user touch action as indicatedin the figure. The sub-segments 502 may be removed, for example, bytapping on the “FILE 5” image 302′ in the file-view window 204. Thiscontracts the view to that shown in FIG. 4. A further tap would removethe displayed segments. This process of expansion and contraction ofsegments may be continued to display sub-sub-segments etc. Again, otheruser touch actions may be used to distinguish between expansion,contraction and selection without departing from the present disclosure.

A further exemplary embodiment is shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8. FIGS. 6 and7 correspond to FIGS. 3 and 4 discussed above, except that a column offile images is displayed rather than an array of file images. Again, an‘expand’ user touch action on segment 3 in FIG. 7, causes segment 402′to be replaced in the expanded view window by a number of sub-segments502 as shown in FIG. 8. While only 2 sub-segments are shown in thefigure, any number of sub-segments may be inserted. This enables a userto easily and rapidly search for a section of media file. Once found,the section may be selected for processing, such as display, playback,editing, etc.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation of a file-view window 204 and anexpanded-view window 206 of a graphical user interface, in accordancewith exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. The file-view window maybe displayed at the bottom of screen orientated in portrait or landscapemode. Representative images 302, such as thumbnail images, of a numberof media files (denoted as “FILE 1”, “FILE 2”, etc.) are displayed inthe file-view window 204. In the embodiment shown, five thumbnail imagesare displayed but a different number of images could be shown.Additional or alternative images may be shown by scrolling the window.This may be done by a horizontal swipe across the window 204, or byother scrolling means. In the embodiment described here, a tap and aswipe towards a processing window (an upward swipe in the examplepresented) are used, but it will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art that user touch actions having other touch characteristicsmay be used. Referring again to FIG. 9, a media file (“FILE 2”) isselected for processing by a user touch that begins on therepresentative image 302 and moves upward as indicated by the arrow 304.For example, the representative image 302 may comprise a thumbnail imageof a frame from a video, and the upward moving user touch or swipe,indicated by the arrow 304, may be used to cause the video to be playedfrom the beginning or played from a previous position.

However, a user may wish to select only a segment or portion of themedia content. In this case, as depicted in FIG. 10, the user taps therepresentative image 302 of the media file “FILE 2”, and a number ofadditional representative images 402 are displayed in expanded-viewwindow 206. Again, in other embodiments a user touch action other than atap may be associated with ‘expansion’. Each of the representativeimages 402 corresponds to a segment or portion of the media content of“FILE 2”. The segments may be selected, for example, by splitting thecontent into a number segments of substantially equal length or byidentifying logical breaks in the content, such as scene or shot changesin a video file, or volume or rhythm changes in a music file. Forexample, a scene change may be detected as a jump in the size of acompressed video frame. Once the segments 402 are displayed, aparticular segment may be selected for processing by a user touch thatbegins on a representative image 402 and moves upward as indicated bythe arrow 404. For example, the representative image 402 may comprise athumbnail image of a frame from a video segment, and the upward movinguser touch, indicated by the arrow 304, may be used to cause the videosegment to be played. In the example shown, segment 3 of “FILE 2” isselected for processing. In this way, the first two segments of themedia content of “FILE 2” are skipped, enabling a user to more easilymove to a desired portion of the media content.

The segments 402 may be removed from the expanded-view window 204 by afurther user tap on the “FILE 2” representative image 302.Alternatively, the segments 402 may be replaced in the expanded-viewwindow 204 by a user tap on a representative image 302 other than the“FILE 2” image. In this way, the content of the media files may beconveniently and rapidly searched and selected by a user.

FIG. 11 is a further diagrammatic representation of a file-view window204 and an expanded-view window 206 of a graphical user interface, inaccordance with exemplary embodiments of the disclosure. Once anexpanded view of a selected media file 302 is displayed in theexpanded-view window 206, a segment may be selected for processing, asdescribed above, with an upward swipe or other assigned user touchaction. Alternatively, a segment may be further expanded by tapping therepresentative image of the segment. In the view shown in FIG. 11, auser tap has been sensed on the representative image of segment 3 of“FILE 2” (as shown in FIG. 10). The processor responds by splittingsegment 3 of “FILE 2” into a number of sub-segments. As before, thesub-segments may be determined in various ways without departing fromthe present disclosure. Representative images 502 of sub-segments ofsegment 3 of “FILE 2” are displayed in the expanded-view window 206. Theimages 502 may replace the previous images or be inserted betweenprevious images. A sub-segment 502 may be selected for processing by anupward user touch as depicted by arrow 504, or some other user touchaction. The sub-segments 502 may be removed, for example, by tapping onthe “FILE 2” image 302 in the file-view window 204, and replaced withthe segments of “FILE 2”. This contracts the view to that shown in FIG.10. A further tap would remove the displayed segments. This process ofexpansion and contraction of segments may be continued to displaysub-sub-segments, etc. Again, other user touch actions may be used todistinguish between expansion, contraction and selection withoutdeparting from the present disclosure.

In this way, a plurality of media files may be rapidly searched andsegments (or sub-segments, etc.) within the media files may be selectedfor processing. Any form of subsequent processing may be applied,including display, playback, editing, transmission to another locationor device, storing in memory, etc.

In one illustrative embodiment, the media files contain video content.In a further exemplary embodiment they contain audio content. In a stillfurther illustrative embodiment the media files contain digital images.In this embodiment, the file-view window 204 may display directories ofimage files, while the expanded-view window 206 displays sub-directoriesor the individual images, depending on the level of expansion.

Thus, in various exemplary embodiments, the processor is operable toselect a media file to be displayed in segments in an expanded-viewwindow in response to a sensed user touch of the representative image ofthe media file in a file-view window. Further, a segment to be processedis be selected in response to a sensed user touch of the representativeimage of a segment in the expanded-view window.

The processor is further operable to sense a touch characteristic of auser touch, select the media file to be displayed in the expanded-viewwindow if the touch has a first touch characteristic, and select thecomplete media file to be processed if the touch has a touchcharacteristic other than the first touch characteristic.

The touch characteristic may be, for example, a duration of the usertouch, a path of the user touch, a direction of the user touch or anumber of user touches in a time interval (such as a single tap ordouble tap).

As described above, the segments of the selected media file may besegments of substantially equal length, identifiably distinct scenes orsections of the selected media file, or some other division of thecontent.

When representative images of segments of the selected media file aredisplayed in the expanded-view window, the processor may remove therepresentative images of segments of the selected media file from theexpanded-view window in response to a sensed user touch of therepresentative image of the media file. In response to a user touch of arepresentative image of a segment displayed in the expanded-view window,the processor may insert, into the expanded-view window, representativeimages of sub-segments of the selected segment. The selected segment maybe displayed on the touch-sensitive display, transmitted to a remotedevice, saved to a memory or subject to other processing.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a method 600 for selecting a segment of amedia file to be processed. Following start block 602 in FIG. 12,representative images of a number of media files are displayed in afile-view window of a graphical user interface at block 604. Therepresentative images may be thumbnail images associated with videocontent or image content, for example. At block 606, a user touch on arepresentative image in the file-view window is detected. If the touchis identified as being a user touch action associated with selection, asdepicted by the positive branch from decision block 608, the media filecorresponding to the touched representative image is selected forprocessing at block 610 and flow returns to block 606 to wait forfurther user touches in the file-view window. User interaction withother elements of the graphical user interface or other peripheraldevices may also be monitored and responded to. If the touch isidentified as having a touch characteristic other than that of aselection touch, as depicted by the negative branch from decision block608, flow continues to decision block 612. If the content of theselected media file has already been expanded into the expand viewwindow, as depicted by the positive branch from decision block 612, theexpanded-view is contracted at block 614 and flow returns to block 606.Otherwise, as depicted by the negative branch from decision block 612,the content of the media file is split into a number of segments and arepresentative image of each segment is displayed in the expanded-viewwindow at block 616. At block 618, a user touch in the file-view windowor expanded-view window is detected. If the touch is in the file-viewwindow, as depicted by the positive branch from decision block 620, flowreturns to block 606. Otherwise, if the touch is in the expanded-viewwindow, as depicted by the negative branch from decision block 620, flowcontinues to decision block 622, where the character of the touch isdetermined. If the touch has the character of a selection touch, asdepicted by the positive branch from decision block 622, the touchedsegment is selected for processing at block 624 and flow continues toblock 618. Otherwise, as depicted by the negative branch from decisionblock 622, the touched segment is expanded again into sub-segments thatare displayed in the expanded-view window at block 626. Flow thencontinues to block 618 to wait for further user input.

It will be appreciated that any module or component disclosed hereinthat executes instructions may include or otherwise have access tonon-transient and tangible computer readable media such as storagemedia, computer storage media, or data storage devices (removable ornon-removable) such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, ortape data storage. Computer storage media may include volatile andnon-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in anymethod or technology for storage of information, such as computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data.Examples of computer storage media include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flashmemory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD)or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other mediumwhich can be used to store the desired information and which can beaccessed by an application, module, or both. Any such computer storagemedia may be part of the server, any component of or related to thenetwork, backend, etc., or accessible or connectable thereto. Anyapplication or module herein described may be implemented using computerreadable/executable instructions that may be stored or otherwise held bysuch computer readable media.

The implementations of the present disclosure described above areintended to be merely exemplary. It will be appreciated by those ofskill in the art that alterations, modifications and variations to theillustrative embodiments disclosed herein may be made without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. Moreover, selected featuresfrom one or more of the above-described embodiments may be combined tocreate alternative embodiments not explicitly shown and describedherein.

The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its essential characteristics. The described exemplaryembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the disclosure is, therefore,indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription. All changes that come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: a display; aprocessor coupled to the display; a memory coupled to and in cooperativearrangement with the processor, the processor and memory configured to:generate a graphical user interface on the display, the graphical userinterface comprising a file-view window configured to displayrepresentative images of a plurality of media files; in response to auser input on a representative image of a media file of the plurality ofmedia files, render a plurality of representative images of segments ofthe media file in an expanded-view window on the display; and inresponse to a user input on one of the representative images of segmentsof the media file in the expanded-view window, process the selectedsegment of the media file.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, where theprocessor is further operable to: sense a characteristic of the userinput on the representative image of the media file; select the mediafile to be displayed in the expanded-view window if the user input has afirst characteristic; and select the complete media file to be processedif the user input has a characteristic other than the firstcharacteristic.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, where the firstcharacteristic comprises a duration of the user input.
 4. The apparatusof claim 2 where the first characteristic comprises a path of the userinput.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, where the segments of the expandedmedia file comprise segments of substantially equal length.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 1, where the segments of the expanded media filecomprise identifiably distinct sections of the selected media file. 7.The apparatus of claim 1 where, when the plurality of representativeimages of segments of the expanded media file are displayed in theexpanded-view window, the processor is further operable to: remove theplurality of representative images of segments of the expanded mediafile from the expanded-view window in response to a sensed user input onthe representative image of the media file.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1where, when the plurality of representative images of segments of theexpanded media file are displayed in the expanded-view window, theprocessor is further operable to: in response to a user input on arepresentative image of a segment displayed in the expanded-view window,display in the expanded-view window a plurality of representative imagesof sub-segments of the segment corresponding to the representative imageassociated with the user input.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, where theprocessor is further operable to display the selected segment on thedisplay.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, where the processor is furtheroperable to transmit the selected segment to a remote device.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 1, where the display comprises a touch-sensitivescreen and the user input comprises a user touch.
 12. A method forselecting a segment of a media file to be processed, comprising:displaying representative images of a plurality of media files in afile-view window of a graphical user interface displayed on a display;responsive to user input on a representative image in the file-viewwindow: determining a characteristic of the user input; and if thedetermined characteristic of the user input is associated with anexpansion operation: displaying, in an expanded-view window of thegraphical user interface, representative images of a plurality ofsegments of media content associated with the representative image inthe file-view window; and responsive to a user input on a representativeimage of a segment of a media file displayed in the expanded-viewwindow: determining a characteristic of the user input; and if thedetermined characteristic of the user input is associated with aselection operation: selecting to be processed media content associatedwith the representative image associated with the user input.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising: responsive to the user input onthe representative image in the file-view window: if the determinedcharacteristic of the user input is associated with a selectionoperation: selecting to be processed media content associated with therepresentative image associated with the user input.
 14. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising: responsive to the user input on therepresentative image in the file-view window: if the determinedcharacteristic of the user input is associated with a contractionoperation: removing, from the expanded-view window, the representativeimages of the plurality of segments of media content associated with therepresentative image associated with the user input.
 15. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising: responsive to the user input on therepresentative image in the expanded-view window: if the determinedcharacteristic of the user input is associated with an expansionoperation: displaying, in the expanded-view window, the representativeimages of the plurality of sub-segments of segment of media contentassociated with the representative image associated with the user input.16. The method of claim 15, where: the representative images of theplurality of media files in the file-view window are arrangedvertically; the representative images of the plurality of segments ofmedia content associated with the representative image in the file-viewwindow are arranged horizontally below the representative image of theexpanded media file in the file-view window; and the representativeimages of the plurality of sub-segments of the segment of media contentassociated with the representative image are inserted into theexpanded-view window, displacing the representative images of theplurality of segments.
 17. The method of claim 15, where: therepresentative images of the plurality of media files in the file-viewwindow are arranged vertically; the representative images of theplurality of segments of media content associated with therepresentative image of the media file in the file-view window arearranged horizontally below the representative image of the expandedmedia file in the file-view window; and the representative images of theplurality of sub-segments of the segment of media content associatedwith the representative image of the expanded segment are inserted intothe expanded-view window below the representative image of the expandedsegment.
 18. The method of claim 12, where a user input, having acharacteristic not associated with selection, on a representative imagein the file-view window is associated with expansion if thecorresponding media content is not displayed in the expanded-viewwindow, and is associated with contraction if the corresponding mediacontent is displayed in the expanded-view window.
 19. The method ofclaim 12, where the plurality of segments of the media content comprisesegments of substantially equal length.
 20. The method of claim 12,where the plurality of segments of the media content comprise segmentscorresponding to identifiably distinct segments of the media filecontent.
 21. The method of claim 12, further comprising: sensing afurther user input on the representative image of the media file in thefile-view window; determining a characteristic of the further userinput; if the determined characteristic of the further user input is notassociated with selection: removing, from the expanded-view window ofthe graphical user interface, the representative images of a pluralityof segments of media content associated with the representative imagereceiving the user input.
 22. The method of claim 12, where theplurality of media files contain video content and where the selectedmedia content is processed to display the video content.
 23. The methodof claim 12, where: the representative images of the plurality of mediafiles in the file-view window are arranged vertically; and therepresentative images of the plurality of segments of media contentassociated with the representative image of the media file in thefile-view window are arranged horizontally below the representativeimage of the media file in the file-view window.
 24. The method of claim12, where the characteristic of the user input associated with selectioncomprises a double tap.
 25. The method of claim 12, where thecharacteristic of the user input associated with selection comprises atouch and hold characteristic.
 26. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium having computer-executable instructions that, when executed by aprocessor, cause the processor to perform the method of claim
 12. 27. Amethod for selecting a segment of a media file to be processed,comprising: displaying a graphical user interface having file-viewwindow on a touch-sensitive display; displaying representative images ofa plurality of media files in the file-view window; responsive to a usertouch action associated with an expansion operation on a representativeimage of a media file in the file-view window: displaying, in anexpanded-view window of the graphical user interface, representativeimages of a plurality of segments of media content associated with thetouched representative image in the file-view window; and responsive toa user touch action associated with a selection operation on arepresentative image of segment of a media file displayed in theexpanded-view window: selecting to be processed the segment of mediacontent associated with the touched representative image.
 28. The methodof claim 27, further comprising: responsive to a user touch actionassociated with a selection operation on a representative image of amedia file displayed in the file-view window: selecting to be processedmedia content associated with the touched representative image.
 29. Themethod of claim 27, further comprising: responsive to a user touchaction associated with a contraction operation: removing therepresentative images of segments of media content from theexpanded-view window of the graphical user interface.
 30. The method ofclaim 27, further comprising: responsive to a user touch actionassociated with an expansion operation on a representative image of asegment of media content in the expanded-view window: displaying, in theexpanded-view window of the graphical user interface, representativeimages of a plurality of sub-segments of segment of media contentassociated with the touched representative image.